"As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." - Proverbs 27:17
"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction." - 2 Timothy 4:2

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Friday, May 20, 2016

MANAGING YOUR HOME

The Holy Spirit brought 1 Timothy 3:5 to my mind this morning. That verse says, If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church? I got to thinking about all the ministries there are in The Church or just my local body of believers. Personally, I am involved in Choir, Praise Team, Teaching, Drama, and Missions. And as I come in contact with the youth of the church I try to help them along also. But I cannot be a great and Holy influence in these areas if I don't first "manage" my "own family" well.So, what does it mean to "manage" your family? The original Greek word here is Proistemi(pro-is'-tay-mee). This is a compound word, a joining of two words to form one. The two words are - Pro and Histemi (his-tay-mee). Pro is a primary preposition meaning before, in front of, or above - as in a position.Histemi means abide, appoint; stand-by, stand-forth, stand-still and stand-up. You combine the two and you have someone in the family, preferably the Father (though not always the case), as a steadfast and faithful fixture in the home that delegates, protects and knows when to simply chill (abide).If this is your responsibility in your marriage; if this is your charge in your family AND you have been observed as doing a good job at it, THEN you may proceed in taking care of God's church. With this in mind, I feel The Church could use two things to help the other side of the coin - (1) people honest about where they are as the Proper Leader of their home and (2) Watchers/Observers that tenderly note concerns to the proper people so that The Church may continue to have purity and unity in Spirit within it's ministries. The well-being of The Church has a direct correspondence to the proper management of the family.